What if
by torzi-bom
Summary: What if... Kirk hadn't ruined Luke & Lorelai's kiss moment? Java Junkie ALL THE WAY! Please R&R! [ONLY 7 CHAPTERS NOW] IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!
1. Encounter of the Stalker Kind

_**A/N:** Hello everyone! This is my... second Gilmore Girls fic (though the first one doesn't really count because it was an absolute flop :p lol!) So yes, I'm not usually a Gilmore Girls writer, I used to write a lot but then my computer crashed and I couldn't be bothered writing it all over again. Yes, so usually I write McLeod's Daughters or 24 fan fic, but I'm starting to get into The 4400 also. But anyway, this is about Gilmore Girls! Yay!_

_This is a 'what if...' scenario, in the position of 'what if... Kirk didn't run down the stairs and ruin that PERFECT Luke & Lorelai kiss that we all love!' Now, yes, I know, that moment has LONG since been over in the USA, but... well... us poor old aussies still haven't got season 4 finished! (I've had to download the last few episodes! Can you believe it!) Yes, so anyway, please enjoy this concept... I'm loving it sick so I hope youse all do too you great hunk-o-spunks! (ok... sorry... slipping into Kath & Kim mode there... note to Americans... WATCH IT... best aussie show in the world!) Yes, so anyway... enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer:** No, unfortunately I don't own Gilmore Girls, but if I did I'd be giving Channel 9 a swift kick up the rear for taking it off air! Arg! _

"What are you doing?" Lorelai said, stepping back a little from Luke as he leant towards her, his right hand resting on her lower back.

"Will you just stand still?" he replied, pulling Lorelai towards him. All of a sudden he kissed her and she wrapped his arms around his neck. Although initially surprised, she didn't stop the kiss. _What am I doing? This is Luke, this is diner Luke, town Luke, coffeeman Luke! I'm kissing Luke on the... I'm kissing Luke... and it isn't all that bad. In fact – it's pretty darn good. Wait, what the hell am I thinking –_ Lorelai pulled away from Luke quickly, and just stared at his chest, not daring to look him in the eye. She didn't know what possessed her to do so, but surprisingly she found herself moving towards him again. He recoiled back like she had.

"What are you doing?" he asked, in a fashion not unlike hers.

"Will you just stand still?" she replied, taking advantage of his own comeback. She brought her hands to his chin and lilted her head to the side slightly, bringing her lips to his. This time the kiss was longer, and they pulled a little closer to each other. His arms were wrapped tightly around her, and she was beginning to like this feeling. _Luke... ah! This is Luke... this is so... why isn't this weird? This is meant to be feeling weird but I... God he's good at this! Wait... I can't be doing this... I can't be kissing Luke – here, at the Dragonfly... _Just as quickly as she had done the first time, Lorelai pulled out of Luke's embrace. She stared at his chest, but this time his hands didn't leave her hips. Then, before she could think of anything else, he pulled her towards him again. But this time it was slower – less urgency. He wasn't just grabbing her and kissing her this time; this was different. She brought her arms up around his neck and, for the first time in this sequence of kisses, slowly brought her eyes up to look at his, instead of staring incessantly at his lips. Their noses were barely millimetres apart, and she could feel his warm breath hitting her lips. She let her fingers play with the bottom of his hair as a small smile appeared on her face. _Why does this feel so good...? I can't believe I'm here... with Luke... and I'm smiling. Oh my gosh I'm smiling! I bet I look like a complete idiot just smiling at him like this when he's so close... so close... ohhh my... did I just shiver when his thumb just – oh yes I shivered... oh this is embarrassing, this is... this is amazing! Wait! No! What am I saying? This isn't amazing this is Luke... and Luke is amazing.. holy moly Luke is amazing. Luke is... unbelievable... I can't believe how great this feels... I have to tell Sookie – man Lorelai, you are such an idiot! Luke is holding you in his arms, your lips are micrometres away from each other and all you can think about is telling Sookie? Dammit I gotta kiss him quick – _And within a second Lorelai had covered Luke's lips with hers. This kiss had more passion than the last two; they kissed each other hungrily as Luke's hands roamed her back and she held onto the back of his neck tightly. She slid her tongue into his mouth, and after no sign of disapproval, she let it play with his. After a while Luke moved to kiss Lorelai's top lip as she focused on his bottom one.

"Lorelai!" they were suddenly broken out of the kiss by a very annoying and alarmed Jason. "What are you doing?"

"Jason! What are you still doing here?!" Lorelai said, stuttering slightly, Luke still holding onto her firmly.

"What, I go to the bathroom for two seconds and you're out here cheating on me with... with the _diner_ guy?" Jason spat, making sure to look Luke up and down.

"Hey, he has a name, and I am _not_ cheating on you because we're _NOT_ together!" Lorelai replied, now moving slightly so that Luke had to let go of her.

"I came back here to work things out with you, and you go and pull a stunt like this... how long has this been going on? How long have you been cheating on me for Lorelai?" Jason asked his voice raising. Luke stepped in front of Lorelai protectively.

"Hey, would you just back off buddy?!" Luke said, putting his hands out to stop Jason from moving any closer.

"I'm not your buddy, now step away from my girlfriend," Jason said, trying to pass Luke. Luke just pushed him back.

"She's not your girlfriend, she broke up with you," Luke replied, trying his best to suppress the urge to just hit this guy.

"We were just on a break-"

"We were NOT on a break Jason! Would you just leave me alone! I wish you would get on with your life!" Lorelai said from behind Luke, her temper flaring.

"You are my life Lorelai," Jason said, his voice taking that softened tone again, "I love you, you're everything to me. I know we can work this out, just give us another try-"

"I've moved on from you Jason, okay? The minute you decided to sue my father was the minute I started moving on from you. And I have moved on, okay?! I don't have _any_ feelings for you anymore, _whatsoever_!" Lorelai said, her face starting to turn slightly red as she stepped from behind Luke to beside him. He immediately put a protective arm out, stopping her from getting any closer to Jason. As soon as he did so, Lorelai squinted her eyes, obvious tears starting to form. She hated that Jason was doing this – didn't he get the message that she didn't want to be with him anymore? He was verging on stalker material, and to be honest, it was really starting to frighten her.

"Will you just go home and leave me alone, Jason? It's long since over between us," she said, her voice breaking slightly as she tried her best to stop herself from crying. Luke kept that protective arm in front of her and gave Jason the death stare.

"Move on, yuppie, you've done enough damage here," Luke said quietly but forcefully. Jason let out a breath and moved to leave.

"I'll call you, Lorelai," Jason said, as he left. This just made a sob escape Lorelai's lips as she brought a hand up to her mouth, still trying her best to sword off the tears.

"You won't be calling anyone," Luke called after Jason, as he watched him walk down the drive and out of sight. Luke turned to Lorelai who still hand her hand over her mouth and was managing to do a pretty good job of not breaking down – though Luke could tell she was mighty close to it. She brought her eyes up to meet his and she brought her hand down from her mouth. Her bottom lip quivered as she stepped in to Luke and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. She buried her head in his chest and finally let the sobs escape. He rubbed her back comfortingly and kissed the top of her head.

"You'll be alright, he's just a major jerk," Luke said holding Lorelai a little bit tighter, "I'll make sure he doesn't try and pull anything like this again."

"Thankyou, Luke," Lorelai's muffled voice said as she continued weeping into his chest. "Thankyou, I..." Lorelai brought her head up and pulled back a little bit. "God... I'm so sorry, I've just gone and left a huge wet patch on your shirt there," she said, gently touching the part of his chest that her tears had dampened.

"Hey, what am I here for but to be a human Kleenex," he replied, causing a little laugh to come from Lorelai. She brought her hand up to his chin and gently ran her thumb across his unusually smooth chin, smiling at him. He just smiled back at her, leaning into her touch, not wanting the feeling of her skin on his to end. She ran her hand down the side of his neck, down over his shoulder and along his arm quickly before taking his hand.

"Come on," she said, leading him towards the door, "let's go for a walk." Luke obliged and let her lead him outside. Lorelai had only got down one step before the heal on one of her shoes snapped suddenly and she fell head over heels down the stairs, pulling Luke with her.

"Ah! Oww....." Lorelai whined cradling her leg.

"Lorelai! Are you alright?" Luke asked, his voice filled with concern as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah... I just... ah, ow... just scratched my leg a little here," she said, revealing a huge bloody graze on the outside of her left calf.

"Geez! Woah... ow... Lorelai we gotta do something about that!" Luke said, moving closer, but being careful not to... you know... touch it.

"Nah... it's okay, really. I'm more concerned about my shoes!" She said, moving to take her shoe off, but wincing a little as a pain shot through her leg.

"Lorelai! That looks really deep," Luke said, taking a closer look at the graze.

"No, it'll be fine," she said, "I've gotta... um... keep... you know..." She got up and tried to stand on her leg and it immediately buckled under the pressure, causing her to fall on top of Luke.

"You are not fine. Come inside, we'll find something for that," Luke said, gently pushing Lorelai off him and standing, before helping her up. She tried to walk towards the steps herself, but Luke quickly picked her up. '_Woah... she's heavier than I thought,_' he thought, starting to regret his decision to be manly a little. But really, he didn't mind. He'd do anything for Lorelai, even if it meant carrying her up several flights of stairs.

"Oh, wait, my heel," she said, grasping towards the ground, almost like a kid.

"I'll get it," Luke said, spotting the heel within reach and attempting to lean over and get it with Lorelai still in his arms. She chuckled.

"Okay, um, maybe you should put me down before you pick it up," she suggested.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," he replied, putting her down and picking up for heel quickly, wasting no time to then put her back in her previous position. She smiled and snuggled into his chest.

"Look at you being all knight in shining armourish!" she giggled.

"Yeah, well, your leg looks pretty grose," he replied frankly.

"Oh, you say such pretty things to me!" she said in a high pitched voice. Luke carried her up the steps and into the Inn where he was rudely stopped by Sookie coming down the stairs.

"I was just coming down to check that my loaves were rising and... oh my gosh..." Sookie said, finally registering the position Luke and Lorelai were in. She smiled excitedly and a little high pitched giggle escaped her lips.

"Well, by all means, go right ahead..." she said, stepping away from the staircase.

"No... Sookie it's not what you think," Luke said defensively.

"Oh... okay," Sookie said with a cheeky smile on her face and a wink, "this conversation never happened." Luke rolled his eyes, and Lorelai corrected Sookie.

"No, Sook, sweetie, I fell down the steps and grazed my leg, so Luke is helping me," Lorelai said.

"You what?!" Sookie said, rushing over, her previous assumption quickly forgotten. She spotted the grazed and winced slightly.

"Ouch."

"Yes, ouch. We are going upstairs to find something for this," Luke said, moving up the staircase. Lorelai leaned over Luke's shoulder and back down at Sookie who was watching them go up with a smile on her face. Lorelai mouthed the words 'we kissed' and Sookie jumped up and down excitedly, giving Lorelai a thumbs up.

_**A/N:** Thankyou my babies! (Brief Phoebe moment... sorry, it has passed now) Please REVIEW you know I love it when you do! And it's much more fun for everyone, because you get to rant and ramble too – not just me! yayness! Now review! :p_


	2. Mr Fix It

_**Chapter 2**_

_**A/N: **Wow! Thankyou SO MUCH for all the great reviews! I have never gotten so many on a first part before! Yayness! Let's all do a dance in celebration of me! hehehe. Anywhoodle, enjoy this part, it's all lovely-smuvley! Lolness_

_**jelly-belly-babe:** I used to get them off 'Limewire' which is a program you can download that will download all this stuff for you – but mine kept stuffing up so I had to delete it! Now I've downloaded eDonkey, which is fabulicious! If you go to www(dot)the-realworld(dot)de you can search for Gilmore Girls and then click on the file you want and it will go straight to your eDonkey client. You may have to change your firewall settings if you have one though._

_**ihaveastory:** questions, questions, questions! You'll find out soon enough my dear! Thanks for the review._

_**CamdenCav12:** ooo I'm liking the ideas. Keep 'em coming! ;)_

_**Kimmers:** hi! I know you from McLeod's! Go McLeod's! And Gilmore Girls (of course)! Thanks for the review mate._

_**lorelaivictoriadanes:** did you know that Lorelai's middle name is my name? how strange is that! I was so excited about it when she had her graduation and they said her middle name. (but yes... I don't go by victoria. Don't like it. lol!) thanks for the review! (love the Danes addition by the way)_

_**ocdwithlhg:** me too! As much as I love their cute coupleness I love their friendship URST! I can't really do anything from S5 coz I haven't seen it... and anyway, I just love the 'what if..' idea. Thanks for your review! Keep 'em coming!_

_**JSparrowzMate13:** yeah I know, I'm always on the edge of my seat waiting for GG sites to be updated with what's happening! Thanks a bunch!_

_**me:** lol loving the penname :p I know don't u love it! I just love Sookie so much! Hehehe!_

_**freecityy:** yay! Something I've done is actually funny! I'm not usually good with the fan fic funny – it usually just turns out weird... lol! Thanks for the review!_

_**Kyizi:** no one shot for me! I'm not so good with them... though a few of my fan fics do turn out like that because I never end up finishing them! LOL!_

Luke continued the journey up the stairs with Lorelai tight in his arms. Without even really thinking it through properly, he bypassed Lorelai's door and headed straight to his room. He opened the door with a little difficulty before walking inside and sitting Lorelai down on the bed.

He didn't even have to ask where the first aid kit was before Lorelai answered, "Top drawer in the dresser." Luke went over and opened the drawer, and sure enough there it was. He took it out and walked towards Lorelai, sitting it down on the bed beside her. He took a piece of cloth out of the kit and moved to the bathroom to dampen it. Lorelai just sat in silence on the bed, waiting for him. Luke came back out of the bathroom and sat down next to Lorelai, picking up her left leg and guiding it to sit on his lap.

"You know, you wouldn't be hurt right now if you'd just have worn sensible footwear," Luke said, gently pressing the damp cloth to her graze, evoking a slight wince.

"Yeah, well, beauty knows no pain," Lorelai replied simply.

"You don't need all those uncomfortable shoes to make you beautiful," Luke replied, moving his eyes up to Lorelai's. She just smiled thankfully in return. Soon enough the moment passed and Luke turned his focus back to fixing Lorelai's leg. They spent the next few minutes in silence and when Luke had finished his fixing (as he is so good at fixing everything) he put his hand on her knee and gave her a smile.

"All fixed," he said, smiling into her eyes.

"What about my shoe?" she asked innocently.

"My next move," Luke replied, gently sliding Lorelai's leg off his lap and getting up. He moved over to his bag and pulled out a tube of glue. Lorelai gasped playfully.

"He brings glue to an Inn..."

"Always come prepared," Luke replied. Lorelai smiled as she handed him the shoe and its recently snapped-off heel. He took it and put some glue on, then held it together, not unlike he did at the dance marathon. He sat down next to Lorelai, and she turned to face him

"You know, I have this weird talent -"

"That sentence NEVER ends well, especially when it comes from your mouth," Luke said sternly. Lorelai pouted in reply.

"Well fine, I guess you'll just have to miss out then won't you," Lorelai replied, the pout still dominating her face. Luke smiled a little and continued holding the heel to the shoe. They sat in silence for a minute just looking at each other. Once the moment was over Luke loosened his grip on the shoe and held it at the toe with a smile on his face.

"Done," he said, holding the shoe out to Lorelai.

"Thanks," she replied. As she took hold of the shoe her hand brushed across Luke's. She shivered at his touch, and as she pulled the shoe towards her, he didn't let go. He leaned in closer and closer, until finally their lips touched. Unlike any of their previous kisses this was soft, almost timid. But sure enough that whole concept was soon out of the window as Lorelai grabbed Luke around the neck and pulled him closer. Lorelai's fixed shoe was dropped to the ground, quickly forgotten, as she lay back on the bed, pulling Luke down on top of her. The kiss deepened as Luke lowered his weight onto Lorelai. She ran her hands over his back as he moved his lips down to her neck, sucking softly on her smooth skin. She tilted her head to the side, allowing him better access and let out a soft moan. This fuelled Luke's actions as he began kissing and sucking her neck harder. He finally moved back to her mouth, leaving red marks on her neck. He propped himself up a little as he reached for the bottom of Lorelai's top, slowly pushing his hand under it and attempting to take it off. Lorelai quickly brought her hand down to his, stopping him from taking the top off any further.

"Luke, wait," she said pulling away from his kiss and looking into his eyes. He looked back at her, slightly confused.

"Rory," she stated simply, moving her hand up to Luke's face, brushing it against his cheek softly. He still looked at her, confused.

"Rory's gonna be back here any minute with the CDs, and she's gonna wonder where I am," she replied. It finally registered with Luke and he sighed, moving himself off Lorelai. She sat up but quickly took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently.

"I don't want to start what I can't finish right now," Lorelai said, moving towards Luke who was lying on his side, propped up by his elbow. He sighed a little and she gently kissed him on the lips.

"We'll finish this again later, I promise," she said, leaning in again to kiss him. She tried to make it quick, but she just couldn't. He turned onto his back and she lay over him, kissing him passionately. He ran his hands across her back under her top as she kissed him hungrily. Their tongues wrestled for a minute, before Lorelai pulled back quickly, breathless.

"Okay," she said between pants, "I _really_ have to go now." She went to pull herself of Luke, but he grabbed her face and pulled her back down, kissing her feverishly. She moaned and he ran his hands through her hair, holding her close to him. She put her hands on his chest and pushed herself away again.

"Really have to go," she mumbled before being pulled back down to Luke's lips again. She gave in to his kiss again, not wanting to leave. Yet she managed to pull herself away again.

"Still have to go," she whispered, once again moving back down to Luke and kissing him. He held her closely to him, and this time she managed to force herself to pull back and sit up. She got off the bed quickly, trying to distance herself from Luke – if she didn't she'd never be able to leave. But, he just got up and walked over to her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back to him. She gave in all too easily and kissed him strongly.

"Mmm... Rory... have to go..." she mumbled between kisses as she backed towards the door, Luke still kissing her intently. She reached the door and he pushed her back against it letting his tongue roam deep into her mouth. He ran his hand down her sides, and she reached for the doorknob, managing to open it with her lips still never leaving Luke's. She opened the door and backed out into the hallway, finally separating from Luke. She smiled at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered, not daring to go back in for another goodnight kiss – or she was sure she wouldn't be able to pull herself away for a goodnight.

"Tomorrow," Luke said with a smile, before shutting the door. He had not stepped one metre away from it when he heard a knock. He opened the door and there was Lorelai on the other side.

"I forgot my shoes," she said, stepping back inside. As soon as she got through the doorway Luke grabbed her again, kissing her feverishly yet again. They hobbled in the direction of the shoes, lips never leaving lips. When they were in the approximately vicinity of the shoes, Lorelai broke away for a second to pick them up before returning to Luke's lips where she left them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, shoes still in hand, and deepened the kiss. But she quickly enough pulled away.

"Rory," she whispered disappointedly, and looked down.

"Right," Luke replied, letting go of Lorelai's waist. She stepped away towards the door.

"I'm sure I won't be getting a wink of sleep tonight," she said with a coy smile. Luke smiled back.

"Me either," he replied, leaning against the doorframe as she stood in the hall.

"I'll see you at breakfast," she smiled. Luke nodded and smiled in reply and closed the door, not having to re-open it this time.

_**A/N:** Part two! Yay! Hope you liked it! Please review; you know how much I love it my beautiful bunnies! _

_Tori_

_Keeper of:_

_Luke's Barbie Band-Aid, Emily's Pearls, and Lorelai's love for Luke_


	3. Secrets and Sheep in Boy George TShirts

_**A/N: **Woooowwww... I am mesmerised by all these reviews! So many! So many! Now normally I would say something to all the reviewers... but this time there are so many that I don't have enough time! So I think I'll just list... I still want to recognise all you gorgeous people!_

_Thanks to those who reviewed chapter 1; **Jenn**, **Julians Angel**, **Chelsea-Lynne** and **kes**_

_And another big thanks to those that reviewed chapter 2; **Lorelaivictoriadanes**, **Jinna**, **Severien** (don't we all!), **Julians Angel**, **Lynn** (well what else is there?!), **GOThICsOCkMoNKeYs**, **Kimmers**, **screaming truth**, **me**, **Kyizi**, **Chelsea**, **ocdwithlhg**, **ProFfeSseR** (I totally forgot about that... arg), **Doris** (well, you gotta love McDonalds too!), **Amanda**, **Sama**, **pinkXfairie** and **Chelsea-Lynne** (darl, I know you loved it.. but you only need to press the review button once! :p)_

_Thanks guys SO MUCH you are all THE BEST! Love you my babies!_

Lorelai walked out of Luke's room and towards her room where she bumped into Babette and Miss Patty who were still donning their yellow robes.

"Hey sugar, what are you doing up so late?" Babette asked curiously, Lorelai's slightly dishevelled hair not going unnoticed.

"A late night rendezvous maybe," Miss Patty proposed suggestively. Lorelai forced a chuckle.

"And what are you ladies doing up so late?" Lorelai asked, quickly trying to turn the conversation away from her.

"Seeing if I can talk Luke into another round of Yahtzee in his room..." Babette said with a wink.

"My he's looking handsome this evening I could just -"

"Yep, that's nice Patty," Lorelai said, quickly cutting Patty off before she continued with her dirty notion.

"Oh those muscles..."

"Such strong arms..."

"Yeah well I've got to keep going, Rory's looking for me," Lorelai said, managing to escape Babette and Patty as they continued walking down to their room, fantasising about Luke. Lorelai walked down the stairs to see if Rory was in the lobby, and right away saw her coming through the door with a few CDs in her hands.

"Rory!" Lorelai called, walking down the stairs a little quicker to greet her daughter. Rory turned to face her and let a little smile escape, trying best to cover her guilty face. Luckily enough for her Lorelai didn't pick it up.

"Is that all the CDs you got?" Lorelai asked as she took them from Rory.

"Yeah, it was hard to pick," she replied, trying her best to cover up.

"Hmm, okay. Well, I'm just gonna go take care of these, I'll meet you up in our room, okay?" Lorelai said.

"Yep," Rory nodded, not looking Lorelai straight in the eye. Lorelai noticed this and gave Rory a bit of a look.

"You alright sweetie?" Lorelai asked, trying to catch Rory's gaze.

"What? Oh, yeah," Rory replied, looking up at her mother and forcing a smile. Lorelai gave a little sigh.

"Okay, well, I'll see you in a bit," she said before walking off. Rory took a deep breath before heading up the stairs to their room. She felt guilty for not telling her mom about what happened with Dean, she just figured she'd tell her later. This was a big thing, and she wasn't sure how Lorelai would take it. She always said that she would talk to her mom before it happened, but – it just happened. She wasn't planning on doing it, it was just in the moment. She wasn't sure how Lorelai would feel about it being with Dean – after all, he was still married. She decided it would be best to wait a while – maybe for Dean and Lindsay's separation to be definite before she mentioned anything.

When Lorelai returned to her room Rory was already in bed – but not asleep.

"Hey sleepy," Lorelai said, moving over to Rory and sitting on the edge of her bed. Rory rolled over to face her mom and forced another smile.

"Hey," she replied. Lorelai was about to tell her about her encounter with Luke but cut herself short. She didn't know if she wanted anyone knowing about this yet. I mean, she was still processing it – things were moving along so quickly, and she didn't want Rory to feel uncomfortable. What if she didn't want her to go out with Luke? What if she wanted things to stay the way they were forever? This was confusing Lorelai so she quickly tried to wipe it from her mind.

"Still not asleep?" Lorelai asked, looking down at her daughter and brushing a bit of hair from her face. She seemed so big tonight for some reason. She was growing up too quickly.

"If I was, would I be talking to you right now?" she replied, raising her eyebrow a little. Lorelai chuckled.

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"You better get some sleep too, you still have to be working tomorrow," Rory said, rolling over.

"Yeah, I spose," Lorelai replied, "Night hun."

"Night," Rory replied with a deep sigh. Lorelai couldn't shake the feeling that something was weird with Rory. She got changed into her pyjamas and slipped into bed, unable to close her eyes. She just stared up at the ceiling, thinking. _What's the matter with Rory? Why has she trying to avoid my gaze? Maybe something happened. She's been acting weird ever since she came back with the CDs – and she didn't bring many. Oh! Maybe that's it! Maybe we were robbed and she didn't have the heart to tell me... oh no I hope they didn't steal my monkey lamp! ...no wait, no one ever gets robbed in Stars Hollow. And I think she would've told me. But maybe she wouldn't have... I mean, she wouldn't want to upset me when I have the inn going on tonight and everything. Everything. Oh, Luke. Luke, Luke, Luke. Why didn't I tell her about Luke? I mean, she has a right to know about it – I am her mother after all. But what if it's all weird? What if she gets attached to Luke and then we break up and then she resents me for it? And Luke... lying there in his bed, all alone, all gorgeous and... okay need to start thinking new thoughts Lorelai. I can't be fantasising about Luke right now... oh but it's so hard not to... he's so... no STOP IT! You need to think about something not Luke related like... Ice cream. Ice cream is cold and delicious and comes in lots of different flavours. Like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee... coffee is my favourite. I absolutely love coffee. Especially Luke's coffee... Luke's coffee is the best... Luke is the best... Luke is... AH! Stop it! New thought, new thought... Taylor in a bikini... ewww now that is just wrong. Maybe I should just count sheep instead. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12...13...14...15...16...17...18... wait, why are all these sheep wearing Boy George T-Shirts? Ah! _Lorelai sat bolt upright in her bed. She looked at the clock – 1:47am. _Dammit._ She sat still for a second and could hear Rory's deep rhythmic breathing, signalling that she was asleep. Lorelai slid off the bed and grabbed the room key before slipping out the door. She tiptoed down the hall, still donning her coffee pyjamas that always reminded her of Luke.

She remembered once, years ago, she was sick and Rory was away at school camp, and Luke brought her coffee and stayed with her all day as she wore her coffee pyjamas. There was something about him that day... She hadn't figured it out until now, but that was probably the day she realised she had feelings for Luke.

She got to Luke's door and knocked softly – loudly enough so that he would hear, but she wouldn't wake up anyone in surrounding rooms. It didn't take long for him to answer it.

"How did I know it would be you?" he said, standing in the doorway in boxer's shorts and a plain white t-shirt.

"Ah, kindred spirits," she replied, stepping into his room. Luke closed he door behind her and watched as she made her way over the bed and sat down on the end of it. Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Making yourself at home?" he asked, deviously.

"Well it is my Inn after all," she replied, bouncing up and down a little, as if testing how firm the mattress was. Luke smiled a little and went to sit down next to Lorelai.

"Any reason for this late night call?" Luke asked, watching her.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't wake you up did I?" she replied, concern evident in her voice.

"Nup. Wide awake."

"I should've known," Lorelai smirked.

"So once again, any reason?" Luke asked, still watching Lorelai who was starting to stare out into space a little.

"Couldn't sleep," she replied, eyes still fixated on nothingness. She then quickly turned to look at Luke. "I think there's something wrong with Rory."

"What do you mean?" Luke said, surprised by her sudden outburst.

"I don't know, she's just been acting all distant and stuff since she got back here. It's worrying me. And I went to tell her about... this," Lorelai used her hand to signal between herself and Luke, "but something stopped me short. You know?" She said, desperately searching for some sort of reassurance.

"Umm... yeah, sure," he replied, trying to sound sure of himself. Lorelai shook her head in response.

"No you don't, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have come in like this," she said, standing up and walking towards the door. Luke quickly grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.

"I don't mind Lorelai, really. I want you here," she looked into his eyes and immediately burst into tears. This one _really_ caught Luke by surprise.

"Woah, uh, come here," he said, pulling her into him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She cried into his chest, trying to explain herself.

"I'm sorry, it's just... with Rory... and Jason... and the Inn... and you," Luke listened a little more intently, "everything's just happening so quickly and I... I don't... I can't handle everything happening at once... I mean, I don't know what's happening with Rory, she's acting all weird and she never acts weird and I'm worried about her and she's all grown and... and... Jason... he was just _here_ and he wouldn't go away and... and I'm scared Luke... I'm scared about Rory and about Jason and about... about this thing with us. I... I just can't deal with it all... I can't," she sobbed into his chest.

"Hey, shh," Luke said, stroking her hair gently, "everything's going to be fine. I'm sure Rory will talk to you about whatever it is that is happening tomorrow, and everything will be sorted out. Jason won't come back again, I promise, and if he does I won't let him get anywhere near you. And... as far as _us_ goes... I'm happy with whatever you want to happen."

Lorelai looked up from his chest, her sobs reducing to sniffles.

"Really?" she questioned.

"Really," he replied.

"Even if I wanted to walk away right now and pretend it never happened?" she asked. Luke gulped to himself hoping that this wasn't what she wanted.

"Lorelai, I want you to be happy, and if walking away will make you happy, then I'd do that for you," he replied, looking into her eyes. She didn't say anything; she just stood on her tip-toes and kissed him softly on the lips. She pulled away and smiled.

"I don't want to walk away," she said with a grin. Luke let out a deep breath.

"Good, you were getting me worried there," he replied, wiping her wet cheeks with his thumb. She smiled and took his hand, leading him over to the bed.

"Let's watch some TV for a while," she suggested, taking the remote from beside the TV and crawling onto the bed, with Luke in tow. He settled down next to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she snuggled into his chest and turned on the TV. They sat there for only about 15 minutes before they both fell into a peaceful sleep.

_**A/N**:Thanks my dears for reading! Please review, review, REVIEW! You know I love it when you do!_

_Tori_

_Keeper of:_

_Luke's Barbie Band-Aid, Emily's Pearls, and Lorelai's love for Luke_


	4. Pau Pau's Pride

_**A/N: **Thanks for all the spankingly marvellousreviews guys!_

_Now, we all know it is not often that I promote other stories (unless of course it's my own shameless self-promotion) but today I would like to make a little mention of a fan fic I have just came across. I HIGHELY advise that you all check out Natalia DeLuca's fan fic 'My Little Girl', a fantastic insight into Emily and Lorelai's relationship. I was completely awestruck by it and now have no choice but to tell everyone else about it! Go read and review it – and say torzibom sent you. You won't regret it!_

_**ProFfeSseR:** lol that's only because I'm watching like 2 or 3 episodes a night at the moment! Just going through all my old tapes and checking it out... omg I KNOW! Kirk would NEVER have been able to see them! It aggravates me!_

_**ocdwithlhg:** thanks for the review! Just wanted to ask, as I do quite a few of my reviewers, where your pen name comes from? I always like to know a little bit about my reviewers, makes it more fun that way! :p_

_**Cordy18:** well, why wouldn't a sheep in their right mind be wearing a t-shirt (or in lorelai's mind for that matter... lol!)_

_**Ruli:** plenty more where that came from!_

_**Chelsea:** I know, don't you love him?! Everytime he comes on screen I have this urge to just grab him and kiss him... or for Lorelai to grab him and kiss him... lol!_

_**screaming truth:** thanks again for the review!_

_**Julian's Angel:** well... you gotta have the cuteness factor, ey?!_

_**Franala:** oh! Are you reading my mind?! This is scary... we must be kindred spirits... lol!_

_**Kimmers:** oh I know! What's with all the animosity? (SORRY... had to use that word – B&B just has some classic vocab) Why did Lorelai have to find out like that? I mean, it's not exactly pleasant... for anyone involved. I'm quite saddened by the whole situation, because I cannot look at post-season 4 finale Rory the way I used to! It's so sad!_

_I apologise in advance for the extreme use of dialogue and stuff from the actual episode... I just figured that some things would stay exactly the same, so I may as well leave them exactly the same! You'll notice the changes though, I assure you._

_And now I apologise for the extremely large author's note. Enjoy, and keep those reviews coming!_

Rory awoke the following morning with a headache. She groaned to herself and rolled over to find her mother's bed empty. She looked at the clock; 8:42am. Well that was understandable – Lorelai had to be up before all the guests. Rory got up and got dressed and headed down to the dining room for breakfast, past Michel and Taylor arguing about something. Babette noticed her as she walked towards their table.

"Rory, we were wondering what happened to you," she said with a smile as Rory sat down.

"Yeah, I had decided to have a good sleep in," Rory replied, smiling as she noticed Davey. "Hey Davey, come for breakfast?"

"Yes he did. Didn't you Davey?" Patty said hugging the baby tighter.

"Yeah he did. Oops he's got that look on his face... you might want to give him back to me," Jackson said, reaching out for Patty to hand him Davey.

"Oh please," Patty replied, "if I went running everytime some guy tried to crap all over me I never would have gotten married."

Sookie came out of the kitchen and walked over to Rory. "Hey sweetie," she said with a smile, "have you seen your mom around?"

"Um... no, I thought she was already up. Why, haven't you seen her?" Rory asked, a little confused as to where her mother could be.

"No I haven't, I'll just have to go ask Michel," she said before walking off in the direction of the entrance. There she found Taylor and Michel squabbling.

"I specifically read that you have a complementary shoe shine service! Now one of my shoes has been mauled and the other has gone missing, I expect compensation!" Taylor said, thrusting a shoe out in Michel's face.

"Mr Doose," Michel replied in his thick French accent, "you have been rambling on for almost two minutes straight I suggest you take a breath."

"Don't you talk down to me Michel, you know what, I am going to go and find wherever I read that you have shoe shine service and then you can take that look off your face!" Taylor spouted back before heading up the stairs.

"That man is why mail order brides were invented," Michel mumbled to himself, taking a sip of his coffee. Sookie rushed over to him.

"Michel, have you seen Lorelai? It's past 9am and I haven't seen her anywhere yet. Neither has Rory."

"I suppose she still has her lazy rear end in bed," Michel said thickly.

"No, Rory said she wasn't there when she got up," speaking more to herself than Michel.

"Well when you find her, kill her for me won't you," Michel scowled before walking over to the desk. Suddenly it clicked in Sookie's mind. Luke! Lorelai would more than likely be with Luke! Sookie rushed up the stairs to Luke's room and knocked loudly on the door.

Luke woke with a start to a loud knock on the door. His sudden jolt woke up Lorelai who was still lying asleep in his arms. She rolled over and looked at him with a smile. Luke looked over her shoulder and noticed the time.

"Geez! It's after 9am!" he said. Lorelai's face immediately dropped.

"What?!" she replied.

"It's after 9am! We better get up!" he said, scrambling out of bed. Then he stopped. "Wait. Didn't someone just knock on the door?"

"I believe someone did," Lorelai relpied. Luke headed over to the door and opened it, to a stressed looking Sookie on the other side.

"Luke, Luke, is Lorelai here?" Sookie asked, panicked and pushing into the room. Luke didn't even have a chance to answer before she saw Lorelai – still in her pyjamas.

"Lorelai! It's past 9am! Where were you?!" Sookie asked, rushing over to her.

"Umm... I was in here... sorry Sookie! I'm so sorry! We fell asleep watching TV last night, and we must have overslept! I'm sorry!" she replied.

"Well you better hurry up and get dressed, I think Rory's a little worried about where you were and Taylor for some reason thinks we have a complementary shoe shine service!" Sookie said in a fuzz.

"What? We don't have a shoe shine service," Lorelai replied, her face twisted in confusion.

"I know, just, get dressed and head on down as soon as you can, okay?" Sookie said. Lorelai nodded. Sookie snuck a look over at Luke who then quickly pretended not to listen.

"I want all the details," Sookie whispered to Lorelai before scurrying out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

"I'm so sorry about this Lorelai," Luke said, walking over to her.

"No, don't worry about it," she replied, "I'm an idiot for falling asleep." They were quiet for a moment, just looking at each other.

"Umm... yeah I better get going before Sookie comes back with a big shiny knife and chops my head off," Lorelai said, stepping towards Luke and kissing him on the cheek. He took her face in his hands and brought her lips to his instead of his cheek and kissed her softly. They pulled apart, both with giddy smiles on their faces.

"I'll talk to you later," he said, as she headed towards the door.

"Bye."

Lorelai walked over to the front desk and noticed Rory there.

"Hey," Lorelai said, approaching her with a smile.

"Hey where have you been? I was just about to leave you a note," Rory said.

"Umm... well, it's a long story I'll tell you later," Lorelai said, "you feeling okay? You seemed a little bit... I dunno, distant last night."

"Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine," Rory replied, "I was just about to head off though, I need to talk to Lane."

"Oh," Lorelai said, slightly disappointed, "well, if you want to talk to me about anything, you know where to find me, okay?"

"Yep. Bye mom," Rory said, giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek.

"Bye sweetie," Lorelai said pouting slightly as her daughter walked out of the door. Something was wrong with Rory, and she was going to find out what it was if it was the last thing she did.

"Aha! Lorelai, I need to talk to you immediately!" Taylor said, after coming down the stairs and spotting Lorelai behind the desk. "I have spoken to Michel but he refuses to compensate me for my shoes!"

"Um, excuse me, what?" Lorelai asked.

"I left my shoes out in the hallway last night for your complementary shoe shine service -"

"Our what?"

"Your complementary shoe service, and one of my shoes was mauled and the other one went completely missing! See, its written down right here. Complementary shoe shine service," Taylor said, showing Lorelai a piece of paper and pointing to it.

"Uh, Michel," Lorelai said looking over to Michel, "hi, could you come over here for a minute?" Michel walked over to Lorelai and Taylor.

"Very sorry about this Taylor," Lorelai commented.

"Yes?" Michel enquired his hand in his pocket.

"Hey. Here I have a list of services, all printed up nice and neat, including seaweed wraps, facial peels, watsu massage, and complimentary shoeshines, all of which we do not offer," Lorelai said, showing Michel the list.

"Well we should," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Michel..."

"I mentioned them several times before, but you don't listen to me. Sookie wants to make each guest a meringue hat, and you say, "Oh, Sookie, what a brilliant idea." But I want to pamper our guests with services that we don't have, and you tell me to answer the phone," Michel said pointedly.

"I'm very sorry about this Taylor, we will replace your shoes, I promise you," Lorelai said, turning to Taylor.

"Fine. I'm a 6 ½ narrow," Taylor said, handing the shoe to Lorelai and walking off.

"I can't believe you did this!" Lorelai said to Michel, as he walked behind the desk nonchalantly.

"Oh, you can too," he replied.

"Get on the phone and find me shoes and have them here by tonight. And get your dogs off the premises immediately."

Michel's mouth dropped open in response. "My dogs aren't -"

"It's been a rough weekend. Don't screw with me," Lorelai said bitterly, pointing the mauled shoe in Michel's face.

"If Kirk can sleep inside, why can't my chows?" Michel said through gritted teeth.

"Get them and take them home."

"Okay, okay," Michel replied, holding his hand up defensively. "I just have to locate Pau-Pau."

"What?"

"He went out for a walk. He's around, he was just testing his boundaries," Michel replied.

"Apparently so are you," Lorelai said, getting irritated.

"I'm going," Michel said teasingly as Lorelai held up the shoe and he took it from her hand, heading out into the main foyer and whistling, "Pau-Pau."

Lorelai pulled out her cell phone and dialled a number.

"Luke's," came the reply.

"It's me."

"Hello?" Luke said loudly, trying to hear the person on the other end over the racket of the diner.

"It's me!"

"Oh, hi," Luke replied, tucking the phone under his ear and wiping down the counter.

"Can we talk?" Lorelai asked, walking away from the desk.

"Well, we're kind of busy," Luke said, taking two plates from Ceaser and placing them on the counter.

"I just wanted to talk," Lorelai replied.

"Talk about what?"

"What?"

"Talk about what?" Luke asked, raising his voice so that she could hear him.

"Could you find a quieter place?"

"Like where?"

"Just go outside."

"Phone doesn't reach outside."

"Use your cell phone," Lorelai replied.

"Uh, I don't have a cell phone."

"What happened to the phone Nicole gave you?"

"She got it back in the divorce. Actually, I threw it in the lake after the divorce," Luke replied, moving towards the store room and trying to get the phone cord around people. Meanwhile in the Inn Lorelai could hear Davey crying.

"Geez, what the hell is going on over there?" Luke asked, hearing the crying through the phone.

"What's going on over there?" Lorelai replied.

"Hold on!"

"You hold on too," Lorelai said, finding the coat closet and going inside. Luke went into the storage room.

"I'm good," Lorelai said, leaning against the door.

"I'm good too," Luke replied, sitting down on a chair.

"Good."

"So... you wanted to talk."

"Yeah, look, I'm sorry about last night and this morning," Lorelai said, sitting down on the ground leaning against the door and slipping her shoes off, "if I hadn't of come into your room we wouldn't have slept so late and you wouldn't be late to open the diner -" Lorelai noticed Pau-Pau next to her chewing on Taylor's missing shoe.

"Hey, no big deal," Luke replied.

"Oh, yeah, I didn't see you this morning... you know, except for the whole getting up late thing."

"Yeah, I couldn't find you before I had to slip out," Luke replied.

"No, that's okay," Lorelai said. They were quiet for a minute.

"So..." Lorelai prompted.

"So..."

"What are we going to tell everyone?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know... do we have to tell them right now? I mean with Babette and Patty, they're such gossips -"

"They may already know," Lorelai said, cringing slightly.

"What?"

"They saw me come out of your room last night and... well, I think they were a little suspicious."

"Oh well. Well, I suppose people will find out when they find out. I mean, we won't try to hide it or anything... right?"

"I like the whole not hiding thing," Lorelai replied with a smile.

"So... I guess I'll talk to you later. Tonight?"

"Tonight," Lorelai smiled.

"Thanks for the call," Luke said, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Well, my pleasure," Lorelai replied hanging up the phone. She sat there with a contented smile on her face for a while, before looking down at Michel's dog, still happily eating Taylor's shoe.

"You better finish that whole thing, Pau-Pau."

_**A/N:** Well! That was a long one! I promise the next one will have a lot more 'me' in it, and not so much stuff out of the show! Please review, review, REVIEW coz then the next part will come faster! :)_

_Tori_

_The keeper of:_

_Luke's Barbie Band-Aid, Emily's Pearls, and Lorelai's love for Luke_


	5. Lunch with Horror

_**A/N: **Thanks for all the fabulicious reviews guys! You are my little pieces of heaven! I want to hug you all, but unfortunately the whole 'internet arms' concept isn't doing to well... anyway, on with the show!_

_**ProFfeSseR:** well, I tend to tape too much stuff... I have all of season three and almost all of season 4 of GG, seasons 1, half of 3 and all of 4 of McLeod's Daughters, season 2 of Ed and seasons 2 & 3 of 24! My dad gets so P.Oed at me for taping so much stuff! (especially when I forget to label the tapes...)_

_**Cordy18:** thanks for the review!_

_**Chelsea-Lynne:** aha, well you'll just have to wait and see!_

_**Chelsea:** thanks for the review!_

_**Franala:** hehehehe oh I love Sookie!_

_**Kimmers:** gotta keep the classics_

_**ocdwithlhg:** lol very nice! My pen name is pretty boring... the bom is the only thing that puzzles people!_

_**bright-star-4455:** nice to see a new reviewer! Come again!_

_**froukje:** well, you know, just thought I'd mix it up a little! lol! Thanks for the review!_

_Thanks again my darlings. Sorry, but this part has even LESS of 'me' I'm afraid... but please cope with me! The next part is ALL my work!_

"So, make sure they all get the thank-you cards and light the lemon candles so the rooms smell pretty when they get up there. Thanks, and great job this weekend, great job," Lorelai said to one of the maids whilst coming down the stairs. She headed over to the desk and picked up a few pieces of paper. Turning around she almost jumped out of her skin seeing Emily sitting on the couch and dropped the paper in surprise.

"Oh my god!" she screamed.

"My, what a lovely greeting," Emily replied, resting her head on her hand.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Lorelai asked, her hand over her heart.

"10 minutes. Why?" Emily replied.

"Because you scared me!"

"Like I'm Dracula," Emily said sarcastically.

"Oh my gosh my heart won't stop pounding," Lorelai said, still touching her chest as Emily got off the couch.

"Stop being so dramatic. I just showed up for lunch. It's not as if I did anything truly terrifying like telling you that butt-crack-baring jeans had gone out of style," Emily replied, leaning against the desk.

"What do you mean you showed up for lunch?" Lorelai asked.

"Our lunch... at 1 o'clock. You, me, Rory – the three of us. We're having lunch, aren't we?"

"I didn't think so..." Lorelai replied, shaking her head slightly.

"You didn't?"

"Well, no, but -"

"When you invited your father and me for the weekend, you said it included a lunch with you and Rory," Emily said, as if it was the most simple thing on earth.

"Well, yes, I know, but that was before you left."

"What does my leaving have to do with anything?"

"Well, when you left, you weren't here anymore. You were gone, so we just assumed lunch was..."

"This lunch was your idea."

"Yes I know, but -"

"I did not force it upon you."

"You're right, however -"

"If you were too busy or you didn't want it to happen, then you didn't have to bring it up at all, did you?"

"No, I didn't. But you left, see, so -"

"All right then," Emily said looking at her watch, "it is now 1, you said lunch at 1, I'm here, its 1, where's Rory?"

"Okay, you see, you left, so -"

"She's not here is she?" Emily said with a smirk on her face.

"No."

"Didn't she know about the lunch?"

"Yes, mom, she knew about the lunch. But you... so we... and she... I'll call her," Lorelai replied, admitting defeat and picking up the phone.

"I'll wait," Emily said walking off. Lorelai dialled and the phone rung a few times before Rory picked it up.

"Hello?" Rory answered.

"Your grandmother is here for lunch," Lorelai said, her arms crossed.

"But she left," Rory replied, slightly confused.

"Yeah I know, but she's demanding we have lunch with her. Could you just come back here please?"

"Umm... well I'm kind of busy," Rory said from Lane's room.

"Please? I need you to save me from the horror that is Emily Gilmore... I can't do this lunch thing alone. Especially when she's in this whole 'I'm right, you're not' mood, which is pretty much the mood she's in all the time," Lorelai ranted.

"Yeah, okay, I spose," Rory replied.

"Great, thanks. Bye."

"See you in a bit."

The three Gilmore women sat at the table in the garden of the Dragonfly quietly as the waiter refilled Emily's drink.

"The weather's lovely," Emily said, trying to initiate some conversation.

"Yes it is," Lorelai replied.

"Rory, don't you think it's lovely?" Emily asked Rory.

"It's very lovely."

"Yes, lovely." There was an uncomfortable silence before Emily decided it was time to say something. "Well, I don't see any reason to put this off any longer. Girls, I have something to say that may shock you, but unfortunately there's nothing I can do about that now." Emily took a deep breath. "Lorelai, Rory, Richard and I have separated.

"And?" Lorelai prompted.

"What do you mean, 'and'? That's not enough? You need some sort of mob related offing to make it interesting?" Emily accused.

"No mom, that's plenty. It's just, we already knew."

"Rory didn't," Emily replied, turning to Rory who was looking a little guilty.

"Well I didn't _know_ know -"

"Why would you tell her?" Emily said, accusing Lorelai again.

"Mom!"

"Who else did you tell?"

"So you haven't read 'page six'?" Lorelai replied sarcastically. Emily rolled her eyes and turned to Rory.

"Rory," Emily said softly, "if you need to talk about this to try to understand why this is happening, then by all means, do not ask your mother," Emily turned to Lorelai, speaking harshly.

"Okay mom, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be insensitive. It just seemed like a thing you and dad were going through. I figured you'd make up," Lorelai said, shrugging.

"Well, we didn't."

"I see that. So... wow, you're really separated."

"That's right. Your father's moving into the pool house," Emily replied.

"Oh, so then you're not separated," Lorelai said.

"Of course we are!"

"You separated by the _pool_."

"That's it, that's the end of your input on this," Emily said, holding up a hand defensively.

"I'm sorry grandma," Rory interjected.

"Well, what's done is done, I'm moving on," Emily replied. "And, to celebrate this next stage of my life, I'm going to Europe by myself for the very first time since I was in college. I'm leaving tonight."

"Tonight? That's fast," Rory replied, a little shocked and surprised.

"Well, I wanted to leave quickly, so I called my travel agent and insisted that he put me on tonight's plane to Paris no matter what. He finally managed to bump someone from a church group, and I've got my seat, and I'm leaving at 10:00. And, Rory, my offer to you still stands."

"What offer?" Rory asked, confused.

"My offer to escort you around Europe this summer."

"Oh," Rory answered, surprised. Lorelai looked at Emily a little surprised too.

"Every young lady should do Europe the proper way at least once in her life, and I would be thrilled to have your company on this very special occasion. Of course, I know it's very short notice, so if you already have plans for the summer, I completely understand," Emily said, watching Rory. Rory shifted around a little uncomfortably and glanced at her mom.

"You know, grandma, thanks so much for the offer, but I thought I might stay home with mom this summer, you know, being my first summer holidays since college and all," Rory replied. This brought a little smile to Lorelai's face. Even though there was something still a bit up with Rory, at least she'd have to the time to talk to her about it.

"Oh, well, that's alright," Emily replied, "I'm sure I'll still have a lovely time on my own."

"But thanks for the offer, grandma. Maybe another time."

_**A/N:** Sorry that was so short an so from the episode! I promise the next chapter will have MUCH more me! Review, review, REVIEW!_

_Tori_

_Keeper of:_

_Luke's Barbie Band-Aid, Emily's Pearls, and Lorelai's love for Luke_


	6. The Adventures of Coffee Junkie and Patt...

**_Chapter 6 – The Adventures of Coffee Junkie and Patto_**

_**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews guys! It is muchdiddly appreciated! I'm loving you guys like a $2 whore! Hehehehe! Yes, so anyway, get ready, brace yourselves… this chapter is ALL me! That's right! No me jibbing off bits of the episodes and trying to pass them off as my own! This is just a fun little chapter based on a real situation that happened to me! So there you go, real life IS handy! And, just as a random note, the weird names that appear in this chapter (Agapantha and Chondelier) were invented by me for the 3in6 video competition (where you make a 3 minute video in 6 hours), which, evidently, my group came 5th in the state in! Go us! Woohoo! Let the celebrations begin! Where's Taylor, I'm sure he can invent a festival to commemorate this momentous occasion!... yes… anyway… on with it!_

_**ProFfeSseR:** aha… but for how long? Hehehe_

_**Julians Angel:** lots of java junkie coming your way!_

_**Franala: **oh! I forgot about Sookie! I'll have to make her pop up somewhere later…_

_**ALIASobsessed89:** hello friendly new reviewer! That's for your comments, keep 'em coming!_

_**ocdwithlhg:** well, it's a very strange story. I'm a fan of McLeod's Daughters (which I have shamelessly promoted in other chapters), and when Claire's baby was born, she called it BOM before she could think of a real name (BOM stands for Baby of McLeod – McLeod being Claire's last name). yes, so anyway, my friend Katie, who also watches McLeod's was trying to think of a nickname to call me, and came up with BOM. And so, my penname was born._

_**bellechik15:** aahh! New reviewer! Thanks for taking the time to read my story and comment on it. Much appreciated!_

_**Cammie:** lol I know! I love Friends… but trust me, it was not intended to be Friendsish. I tried to make him say the same thing in other words, but it was too hard! I hate Jason! He can go… do something rude. Oh! DIRTY! Lol!_

_Another random note, I'm loving the song 'I don't wanna be' by Gavin DeGraw. Yes, another shameless plug. Anywho… on with the show!_

Lorelai sat at the counter in Luke's diner early that evening on her laptop. She had just got away from the Dragonfly, and Luke was still relatively busy at the diner, so she brought her laptop to amuse herself. Her internet cable had once again taken residence in Luke's fax line, and she once again had made her statue of menus.

"What? Who is that?" Lorelai said, out loud to her laptop as Luke came out of the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" he asked, putting a plate of burger and fries down in front of a customer a few stools away from Lorelai.

"I'm on MSN messenger, and some random person has just added me," she replied, typing away quickly.

"What are you talking about?" Luke questioned, leaning against the counter and watching her.

"MSN Messenger. You know, you can chat to your friends online and stuff. Rory just introduced me to it a few weeks ago. And now, this weird random guy called 'Patto' has just added me. Patto? What sort of a name is 'Patto'??" Lorelai questioned, holding her hands up and gesturing towards the computer. Luke just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ooh he just asked me what my name is. What should I say?" Lorelai asked, looking up at him. Luke gave her a 'dah' look.

"Uh, Lorelai…"

"Nah, I want to say something cool like… what's a weird name?" she asked.

"Why do you have to tell this person a weird name?" Luke questioned.

"Because it's fun! Now come on, help me think of one," Lorelai replied, tilting her head up a little and thinking. Luke rolled his eyes and pretended to look deep in thought.

"Ooh! Agapantha!"

"Agapantha?! Isn't that a plant?!" Luke questioned.

"Chondelier!"

"Now you sound like a prostitute."

"Agapantha it is! But my friends call me 'Aggi'," Lorelai said in a high pitched voice with a smile. Luke just rolled his eyes and began wiping down the counter. Lorelai typed away for a minute and Luke watched her intently as she smiled at the screen. Her mouth suddenly dropped open, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Ah… this guy just asked me if I like Josie and the Pussycats? I'm guessing he is referring to the new, teened up movie, as apposed to the original series. Yeah… okay… hmm… yeah it's a little gay…" she said, typing it all down, "and you're a guy… so now I'm starting to worry about your sexual orientation…"

"Are you writing that down?!" Luke asked, amazed. Lorelai laughed.

"Yeah, but I'm not being serious, Luke! No one is ever serious on msn! It's a joke," she said with a smile, bringing her hand right up before pressing the enter key, for effect.

"Right… you want some food now?" Luke asked.

"Ah… yeah sure, burger and fries please," she replied.

"You can't use that laptop AND eat at the same time."

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't."

"Well in that case, cancel the food, I'll eat in a minute," Lorelai replied. Luke rolled his eyes and went to serve some other customers. Luke came back a few moments later, and Lorelai was looking outraged.

"He called me a dyke!" she said.

"Who?"

"Patto! After my little joke he said 'omg u dyke don't call me gay'! I so hate this guy!" Lorelai said. "Well… FINE! 'well, hey at least that means you won't crack onto me!'" she typed.

"Did you write that too?" Luke asked, coming around the counter to see what she was doing.

"Lukey, you need to keep up with things here!" Lorelai replied. Lorelai's computer made the 'incoming message' noise and she bounced in her seat with excitement.

"Ooh! I love fights with internet randoms!" she said. "Okay, okay, here we go… and he says… 'ur the only chick I know I haven't asked 2 marry me'… okay! Someone's a little desperate!" Luke just watched intently over Lorelai's shoulder.

"'well I feel truly honoured to be the only woman left with a little bit of dignity'," she typed quickly before pressing enter once again. She waited a minute before something else popped up on the screen. "Ooh okay, look at this Lukey," she said, pulling him by the collar even further over her shoulder.

**Patto says:**

I'm soooooo hurt by that comment

**Patto says:**

I think i might go cry...........not

**coffee junkie says:**

lol ok the whole 'not' thing is SO pre-1999... so u might want to start learning a few more comebacks

**Patto says:**

and that comment is soooo like crap where u get that from bring it on?

**coffee junkie says:**

lol FUNNY movie... just great mockable features... gotta love something u can mock...

**coffee junkie says:**

like u for example!

**coffee junkie says:**

this is like SO totally like awesomely awesome! wow! i can't believe the totally awesome like pinkness of the situation! yeah! ahah!

"What was that?" Luke asked, his face screwed up a little, looking awfully confused.

"Shh, quiet you, just watch. The best is yet to come my friend," she replied, now pulling his face slightly closer to her, as well as the screen.

**Patto says:**

rrrriiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhttttttttt.........

**coffee junkie says:**

i'm thinking u need to get a life

**Patto says:**

im thinking u need 2 go sit on the washing machine or sumthing

**Patto says:**

cos u r reli up tight

Lorelai's mouth dropped open in shock. "He cannot say that to me!"

"What?! What does that mean?!" Luke asked, squinting his eyes at the screen, not understanding.

"Luke! Think about it!" Lorelai replied. Luke looked at the screen for a minute before it clicked.

"He cannot say that to you! I want to punch him in the face!" Luke said, reaching for the laptop. Lorelai quickly shielded it from him.

"Luke, hurting the laptop isn't going to hurt him! It's only going to irritate me because the computer will break before I get a chance to reply. Now let's just play it cool," she said, holding up her hands and letting out a deep relaxing breath before placing her fingers back on the keyboard.

**coffee junkie says:**

yeah... someone needs to stop watching Scrubs.... its not on anymore dude! GET OVER IT!

"What? I don't get that," Luke said.

"Of course you don't, you're Luke."

**Patto says:**

wtf has that got 2 do wit scrubs?

**coffee junkie says:**

yeah, okay... obviously not getting the reference... learn some pop culture!

"And… block," Lorelai said, pressing the block button and smiling.

"I still don't get that Scrubs thing," Luke said.

"Oh it was this episode where Elliot… okay, Luke, sweetie, that is beside the point. The point is, I win," Lorelai said, turning away from the computer and smiling at Luke.

"There shouldn't be anything to win! You picked a fight with him! You're not supposed to do that!"

"I didn't pick a fight with him! He took my joke the wrong way and I had _no choice_ but to retaliate!" Lorelai replied innocently.

"Well you could have at least used an emoticon that indicated you were joking," Luke said, pointing at the screen.

"I don't _do_ emoticons, and anyway, that would have just – hang on, how do you know what an emoticon is?" Lorelai asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"What? Oh… ah, no I don't… I just saw the name on the screen so I figured…" Luke said awkwardly. Lorelai's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Oh my gosh! You have MSN!" Lorelai said.

"I do NOT!" Luke replied.

"Luke Danes, you SO have MSN Messenger!" Lorelai said, getting out of her seat and smiling broadly, poking Luke playfully in the chest.

"I don't," he replied, walking around the counter and starting to wipe it down vigorously. Lorelai followed him around.

"You're an MSN junkie! You go on every night and chat to all your Star Trek friends and you talk about how… umm… Captain Kirk should… ah… wear glasses and… that you all want… ah… that chick, I don't know her name…"

"I don't have MSN."

"What's you address?"

"I told you, I don't have MSN."

"What's your address?" Lorelai asked again, persistently.

"I don't have MSN."

"Luke!"

"What?!"

"Luke!"

"Luke."

"What?!"

"It's Luke, okay, are you happy?" Luke said, admitting defeat.

"Your email address is… luke?"

"Not _just_ Luke, its Luke and a series of numbers."

"What numbers?" Lorelai asked teasingly.

"I'll tell you if you tell me your email address."

"Fine. coffeequeen69. What are the numbers?" Lorelai asked.

"Its…" Luke looked away, cringed for a moment, and whispered, "its luke007."

"007?"

"That's what I said, now keep quiet," he replied, hushing her. She burst out laughing.

"Oh my gosh! That makes me a Bond girl!" she laughed.

"What?" Luke asked. Lorelai just kept on laughing. Luke looked at her disapprovingly. And she was still laughing.

"Do you want your food now?" he asked, crossing his arms. She nodded and continued her laughing fit.

_**A/N:** Thanks for reading! I don't know if Scrubs is still on in the US... but it's not on in OZ atm, so yes, the reference has some sort of relevance. heehehehe i LOVE Luke! Please review! Come on, press that little button, you know you want to! Did i mention how good looking you are?_


	7. The Maimed in Maine

_**Chapter 7 – The maimed in Maine**_

_**A/N:** Wow! Thanks for all the reviews! SO MANY! I mean REALLY! SOOOO MANY! Hehehehehehe I love you all! Thanks also to all you guys that read and reviewed my new fic 'The Whole Package', I will definitely be writing more of that one! But don't worry, this story will still be in the works, even though I'm on another one too. I've written quite a few more parts than I've posted, I just don't like to post right up to where I'm up to, because I like to go back and change things if I change my mind or whatever._

_**Kimmers:** GO AUSSIE GO! Hehehe_

_**ALIASobsessed89:** hehehe I'm always up at indecent hours reading fan fic too!_

**_GOThICsOCkMoNKeYs:_**_she makes big deals out of the smallest things, doesn't she?! I just love it when she teases Luke. :)_

_**Cordy18:** thanks for the review!_

_**Franala:** Great song! Yes, I agree with you, the chapter was a little out of place, especially in the context of the whole 'what if', but this chapter should bring it together a little more!_

_**Chelsea:** thanks for the review!_

_**Twiddleda134:** yay, new reviewer! Thanks, and keep 'em coming!_

**_ProFfeSseR_**_ hehehe I can't see him with MSN either, but it was still fun!_

_**Cammie:** DIRTY! Man I just LOVE saying that!_

_**lady rosebit:** never!_

_**ocdwithlhg:** you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?!_

_**daisyduke947:** new reviewer! Woohoo! Thanks a bunch!_

_**preciousbabyblue:** Ah, a very valid question! As of yet, I have not decided, but at some stage Lorelai will find out and WOAH will there be fireworks!_

_**Julians Angel:** I hate internet randoms!_

_**thtrnmsclsrck:** yeah, it's too much work to go through the episodes and the transcripts… and it's nowhere near as fun as just making them do what I want them to do!_

_**x.kromediva.x:** thanks for the multiple reviews! I'm loving you sick! One Tree Hill just started over here in oz, and I'm really getting into it (though I must say I HATE Peyton. I think Lucas should get together with that Hayley girl – unless he's her cousin or something… I'm not sure why she lives with him yet…) I can see Lorelai being down with the MSN lingo, but yes, you bring up a valid point!_

_**screaming truth:** yeah, Scrubs just started back up over here :S except at 11pm! It's driving me insane! LGlover?_

_**bright-star4455:** oh I love Luke when he's flustered!_

_Thanks again guys, I love you all! Just a random note – I am LOVING the song 'These Kids' by Joel Turner. He was a contestant on Australian Idol 1 but didn't get passed the first audition (coz he's a beat boxer), and now he's got an album and a single out and I love him! The song is on the add for Summerland over here, download it! Best song! I was listening to it while I was writing chapter 9… in fact, I'm listening to it right now!_

_On with the story!_

Lorelai had just finished her burger and fries when the dinner rush had died down to only two or three customers. Luke was in the storage room, so Lorelai was sitting by herself. She pouted and then stood up.

"Luuukey, I'm going!" she called. No answer. Then the diner phone rang. She looked at it a little surprised. No one came to answer it. She looked at the few customers that were left, and none of them seemed to notice.

"Ah, Luke, phone!" Lorelai called. Still no answer.

"Ceaser?" No reply. Lorelai finally decided she would go and answer the phone herself. She picked it up cautiously.

"Luke's Diner, Lorelai speaking, how may I be of service?" she asked with a cheesy smile.

"Lorelai, hi! It's Liz! Luke's sister," came the reply.

"Oh hey Liz, how are you?" Lorelai asked.

"Not so good as it turns out, I've broken an arm and a leg!"

"Oh no! That's no good! I hope you get better soon," Lorelai responded.

"So do I. Say, is Luke there?" Liz asked.

"Ah… yeah he should be, I think he's in the store room, hang on a sec," Lorelai replied, popping the phone down on the counter. Not two seconds later Luke came out of the store room.

"Luke, Liz is on the phone," Lorelai said, handing the phone out to him.

"Oh, I didn't hear it ring," Luke replied.

"Obviously," Lorelai muttered under her breath. Luke heard that and scowled at her a little.

"Liz, hey," Luke said into the phone. Lorelai stood there impatiently, watching him, and tapping her foot. "Aha… yeah… oh no, are you okay?"

Lorelai looked around the diner and noticed that it was now empty. She smiled cheekily to herself as she walked behind Luke and wrapped her arms around his waist. He smiled to himself.

"Well I dunno Liz I just… okay… well, I suppose but…" Luke said as Lorelai began kissing his neck. He closed his eyes, trying to keep his focus on what Liz was saying and forget the gorgeous woman that was kissing his neck.

"Look I'll have to… well… okay, I'll see you soon… yep okay… no longer than that!... bye," Luke said before hanging up the phone. He turned around in Lorelai's arms and she smiled at him devilishly.

"You know, that's really distracting," Luke said.

"That was the whole point," Lorelai replied with a cheeky smile on her face. She brought her arms up around his neck and leaned against his shoulder.

"So what did Liz want?" she asked, her fingers fiddling with the hair at the back of his neck.

"She wants me to come to Maine," he replied simply. Lorelai immediately stopped what she was doing and pulled back to look at his face.

"Wha… wha… for how long?" she asked, searching his eyes.

"3 weeks," he replied, a saddened look on his face.

"3 weeks?! That's ages!" Lorelai protested.

"I know, but her and TJ each broke an arm and a leg and they need some help running the booth up at the Renaissance fair, and, well, I guess I'm stuck with helping out," Luke replied.

"But what am I gonna do for 3 weeks?" Lorelai asked, pouting.

"Well you have Rory," Luke reasoned.

"True, I do have Rory, but what about you?! How am I supposed to cope without my Lukey for 3 whole weeks?" Lorelai pouted.

"Do _not_ call me that," Luke said sternly.

"Call you what Lukey?" Lorelai teased.

"You did it again!"

"Did what Lukey?"

"Stop it."

"Lukey."

"Stop it!"

"Lukey."

"Lorelai!"

"Lukey!"

Luke had no choice but to silence her by kissing her quickly. She smiled through the kiss and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. They pulled apart and she shook her head disbelievingly.

"So you've finally found a way to shut me up," she said. Luke chuckled and pulled out of Lorelai's arms.

"It's getting late," he said, slightly uncomfortably, "I better close up and head off."

"You're leaving now?" Lorelai pouted, reaching out and taking Luke's hand in hers.

"Yeah, I probably better; things didn't sound too good over there."

"But it's too late to drive that far," Lorelai said, trying to get him to stay for a little longer.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'm a big boy," Luke said.

"Dirty!" Lorelai smiled.

"Hey, I don't think that warranted a dirty," Luke replied.

"Oh, it did in my world," Lorelai sniggered. They stood for a moment, both letting out deep sighs.

"Well, I spose I'll see you in 3 weeks then," Lorelai said sadly, stepping a little closer to Luke.

"Yeah. 3 weeks. Geez that sounds longer everytime I hear it," Luke replied, wrapping his free arm around Lorelai's waist. He pulled her towards him and kissed her passionately. They stood there, kissing, for quite a while before they both decided that they really did need to go and pulled apart.

"I better get home to Rory," Lorelai said, bringing a hand up to Luke's face and gently running it over his stubble. She kissed him quickly on the lips before leaving the diner, stopping only to turn around and smile when she reached the door.

Lorelai leaned against her front door with a sigh. 3 weeks without Luke – and things were just getting started. She tucked her hair behind her ears and headed into the kitchen.

"Rory," she called, "Momma's home!" She expected Rory to come out of her room, but she didn't. Lorelai gave a little confused look and opened Rory's bedroom door to find her room empty.

"Hmm, that's a little weird," she mumbled to herself.

"Rory!" she called, "you home?!" No reply. She walked out into the living room and noticed that the answering machine light was flashing. She pressed the play button and Rory's voice filled the silent house.

"Mom, it's me. I'm sorry to leave without saying goodbye, but I decided to take grandma up on her offer after all. Grandma managed to get me a seat, and I'm on my way to the airport now. I know you think this is all a little weird, I'll explain it to you later, I promise, it's just… I need some time to myself and some time to think… and I think this trip to Europe is exactly what I need. I'm sorry mom. I love you," and just ask abruptly as Rory's voice had filled the room, it left it. Lorelai remained standing glued to the spot. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. _She's gone. She's gone with my MOTHER, of all people. Oh my gosh, something really bad must have happened. Why couldn't I tell what it was? Maybe it was something I did, something that I said, and now she's running off scared. And I'm alone for the summer. No Rory, no Luke… oh God no Luke. I need Luke right now. I need Luke, I need Rory. Why did she just up and leave? I don't understand. What's going on?_ Lorelai sat down on the couch, her eyes welling up with tears. She hugged her knees and sniffled a few times. She let herself cry for a while before the phone rang. She jumped on it.

"Rory?" she answered hopefully.

"No, it's me," Luke replied from the other end.

"Oh Luke," she said sniffing. Luke could tell something was up.

"Are you alright? You sound upset," Luke replied.

"What? Me, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. I mean, my daughter's gone to Europe with my mother, but I'm fine," she said, trying to laugh at the situation.

"Rory went to Europe?" Luke asked, surprised.

"I got home and she had left a message on the answering machine, telling me that she was on her way to the airport," Lorelai said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Do you want me to come back?" Luke asked, more than happy to go back home to Lorelai.

"No… yes… no, no you have Liz and TJ to worry about, I'll be fine, I'll be fine," Lorelai said, sitting up straight and trying her best to regain her composure.

"Okay, but if you need anything… to talk or anything, call me, okay? I got a cell phone," Luke replied.

"Oh? Okay, hang on a sec," Lorelai said, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen.

"860 294 1986," Luke said as Lorelai wrote it down quickly.

"Okay," Lorelai replied.

"Look, I better go, I don't know how safe it is to be driving and talking on one of these things at the same time," Luke said.

"Talk to you tomorrow?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow," Luke replied.

"Night Luke."

"Night Lorelai."

_**A/N:** and that was chapter 7! I hope you enjoyed it ladies and gentleman… yes! hehehehe oh I'm having fun! Please review, you know I love it! It makes me… DIRTY! hehehe. PLENTY of big SHOCKING surprises coming up in the next chapter... you won't BELIEVE!_


	8. Author's Note

_**A/N:** I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'M SORRY! I know how much some of you liked the whole 'Luke's daughter turning up thing', but… I didn't. I did for a while, but then it just got too hard to figure out where the hell it was going to go next. So I chopped it. Sorry! I feel this story dragging on, so I wanted to get rid of that big hunk of plot there so that I could tie the bow on this story… sorry! There is a new story in the works though. I haven't written any yet, the idea is just floating around in my head, gathering character names and plots and subplots, and waiting to pop out there. So this fic shall be closed in one or two chapters time… I hope. I am still running with 'The Whole Package' though._

_I would just love to thank all the lovely people who have reviewed this fic, **ocdwithlhg**, **Miss-Lionesse**, **Buffalo**, **ProFfeSseR**, **ALIASobsessed89**, **iheartchicago**, **screaming truth**, **sarah**, **Kimmers**, **melliemoe**, **lizzieandgordoforeva**, **Ray Ray Tiliribob**, **Meredith44**, **bright-star-in-the-night**, **Ruli**, **everwoodgirl04**, **liberty**, **mrschandlerbing**, **Willow**, **little talk**, **Alyx7**, **manda**, **AnneTrinityRGJM**, **lorandluke**, **bamrocks**, **megan**, **noam **and **Krystal**, you guys are all absolute CHAMPS, thanks so much for reviewing! That's the most amount of reviews I've EVER got for a chapter of any of my stories, thankyou so much! Please read my other stories and review them, its always great to know you read my stuff._

_Just remember… this story is NOT finished… it has merely been chopped down to size. I shall finish it when the inspiration comes… which I'm hoping shall be soon…_

_Thankyou, I love you all!_

_torzibom xxx_


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